Divine Office Office of Readings

March 21st, 2026 – Invitatory – Divine Office: Liturgy of the Hours

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II: Antiphon: 1043 Psalm: 1044 Christian Prayer: Antiphon: 687 Psalm: 688 Lord, open my lips. — And my mouth will proclaim your praise. Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering. Psalm 95 Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us. Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord. Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering. The Lord is God, the mighty God, the great king over all the gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the highest mountains as well He made the sea; it belongs to him, the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands. Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering. Come, then, let us bow down and worship, bending the knee before the Lord, our maker, For he is our God and we are his people, the flock he shepherds. Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering. Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did in the wilderness, when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me, Although they had seen all of my works. Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering. Forty years I endured that generation. I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways. So I swore in my anger, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever, Amen Ant. Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

March 21st, 2026 – Office of Readings – Divine Office: Liturgy of the Hours

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II: Ordinary: 1045 Proper of Seasons: 328 Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 1606 Office of Readings for Saturday of the 4th week of Lent God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. HYMN Ave Maria, gratia plena Dominus tecum Benedicta tu in mulieribus Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus Sancta Maria, Mater Dei Ora pro nobis peccatoribus Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae Amen. English Translation: Hail Mary, full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed are thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us sinners Now, and at the hour of our death Amen. 𝄞"Ave Maria" by Gretchen Harris [http://www.gretchen-harris.com] • Musical Score [https://divineoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/Ave-Maria-CHANT-Mode-I-DivOfcOrg-C-orig.pdf] • Title: Ave Maria (Chant); Album: Sing of Mary; Music; Plainsong mode I; vocal: Gretchen Harris; Used with permission; Visit and thank Gretch at http://www.gretchen-harris.com; PSALMODY Ant. 1 The Lord delivered his people from the oppressor. Psalm 78:40-72 Salvation history reveals the goodness of God and the faithlessness of his people These events are recalled as a warning to us (1 Corinthians 10:6). IV How often they defied him in the wilderness and caused him pain in the desert! Yet again they put God to the test and grieved the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his deeds nor the day he saved them from the foe; when he worked his miracles in Egypt, his wonders in the plains of Zoan: when he turned their rivers into blood, made their streams impossible to drink. He sent dog-flies against them to devour them and swarms of frogs to molest them. He gave their crops to the grub, the fruit of their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle to plague, Their flocks and herds to pestilence. He turned on them the heat of his anger, fury, rage and havoc, a troop of destroying angels. He gave free course to his anger. He did not spare them from death but gave their lives to the plague. He struck all the first born in Egypt, the finest flower in the dwellings of Ham. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. The Lord delivered his people from the oppressor. Ant. 2 The Lord led his people to his holy mountain. V Then he brought forth his people like sheep; he guided his flock in the desert. He led them safely with nothing to fear, while the sea engulfed their foes. So he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. He drove out the nations before them, and divided the land for their heritage. Their tents he gave as a dwelling to each one of Israel’s tribes. Still they put God to the proof and defied him; they refused to obey the Most High. They strayed, as faithless as their fathers, like a bow on which the archer cannot count. With their mountain shrines they angered him; made him jealous with the idols they served. God saw and was filled with fury: he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling place in Shiloh, the tent where he lived among men. He gave his ark into captivity, his glorious ark into the hands of the foe. He gave up his people to the sword, in his anger against his chosen ones. So war devoured their young men, their maidens had no wedding songs; their priests fell by the sword and their widows made no lament. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. The Lord led his people to his holy mountain. Ant. 3 The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, and David, his servant, to shepherd Israel, his chosen people. VI Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, like a warrior overcome with wine. He struck his foes from behind and put them to everlasting shame. He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim but he chose the tribe of Judah, the hill of Zion which he loves. He built his shrine like the heavens, or like the earth which he made firm for ever. And he chose David his servant and took him away from the sheepfolds. From the care of the ewes he called him to be shepherd of Jacob his people, of Israel his own possession. He tended them with blameless heart, with discerning mind he led them. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer For your people, Lord Jesus, you bring water from the rock and rain bread from heaven; you forgive sins with limitless generosity. Do not let us be marked by unfaithfulness, as in days of old, but grant that the covenant you sealed with your blood may merit us a place with you in your kingdom. Ant. The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, and David, his servant, to shepherd Israel, his chosen people. Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church. The man of God welcomes the light. — So that all may see that his deeds are true. READINGS First reading From the book of Numbers 20:1-13; 21:4-9 The waters of Meribah. The bronze serpent The whole Israelite community arrived in the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people settled at Kadesh. It was here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried. As the community had no water, they held a council against Moses and Aaron. The people contended with Moses, exclaiming, “Would that we too had perished with our kinsmen in the Lord’s presence! Why have you brought the Lord’s community into this desert where we and our livestock are dying? Why did you lead us out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place which has neither grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates? Here there is not even water to drink!” But Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the meeting tent, where they fell prostrate. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron, and in their presence order the rock to yield its waters. From the rock you shall bring forth water for the community and their livestock to drink.” So Moses took the staff from its place before the Lord, as he was ordered. He and Aaron assembled the community in front of the rock, where he said to them, “Listen to me, you rebels! Are we to bring water for you out of this rock?” Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, and water gushed out in abundance for the community and their livestock to drink. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you were not faithful to me in showing forth my sanctity before the Israelites, you shall not lead this community into the land I will give them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites contended against the Lord, and where he revealed his sanctity among them. From Mount Hor they set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.” Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered. RESPONSORY John 3:14, 15, 17 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, — so that all who believe in him, may have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save it. — So that all who believe in him, may have eternal life. Second reading From the pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world of the Second Vatican Council All human activity is to find its purification in the paschal mystery Holy Scripture, with which the experience of the ages is in agreement, teaches the human family that human progress, though it is a great blessing for man, brings with it a great temptation. When the scale of values is disturbed and evil becomes mixed with good, individuals and groups consider only their own interests, not those of others. The result is that the world is not yet a home of true brotherhood, while the increased power of mankind already threatens to destroy the human race itself. If it is asked how this unhappy state of affairs can be set right, Christians state their belief that all human activity, in daily jeopardy through pride and inordinate self-love, is to find its purification and its perfection in the cross and resurrection of Christ. Man, redeemed by Christ and made a new creation in the Holy Spirit, can and must love the very things created by God. For he receives them from God, and sees and reveres them as coming from the hand of God. As he gives thanks for them to his Benefactor, and uses and enjoys them in a spirit of poverty and freedom, he enters into true possession of the world, as one having nothing and possessing all things. For all things are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. The Word of God, through whom all things were made, himself became man and lived in the world of men. As perfect man he has entered into the history of the world, taking it up into himself and bringing it into unity as its head. He reveals to us that God is love, and at the same time teaches us that the fundamental law of human perfection, and therefore of the transformation of the world, is the new commandment of love. He assures those who have faith in God’s love that the way of love is open to all men, and that the effort to restore universal brotherhood is not in vain. At the same time he warns us that this love is not to be sought after only in great things but also, and above all, in the ordinary circumstances of life. He suffered death for us all, sinners as we are, and by his example he teaches us that we also have to carry that cross which the flesh and the world lay on the shoulders of those who strive for peace and justice. Constituted as the Lord by his resurrection, Christ, to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given, is still at work in the hearts of men through the power of his Spirit. Not only does he awaken in them a longing for the world to come, but by that very fact he also inspires, purifies and strengthens those generous desires by which the human family seeks to make its own life more human and to achieve the same goal for the whole world. The gifts of the Spirit are manifold. He calls some to bear open witness to the longing for a dwelling place in heaven, and to keep this fresh in the minds of all mankind; he calls others to dedicate themselves to the service of men here on earth, preparing by this ministry the material for the kingdom of heaven. Yet he makes all free, so that, by denying their love of self and taking up all earth’s resources into the life of man, all may reach out to the future, when humanity itself will become an offering acceptable to God. RESPONSORY 2 Corinthians 5:15; Romans 4:25 Christ died for all, — that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose again for their sake. He was put to death for our sins, and raised to life to restore us to God’s friendship. — That those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose again for their sake. CONCLUDING PRAYER May the working of your mercy, O Lord, we pray, direct our hearts aright, for without your grace we cannot find favor in your sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen. ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.

March 21st, 2026 – Morning Prayer – Divine Office: Liturgy of the Hours

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II: Ordinary: 1049 Proper of Seasons: 333 Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 1611 Christian Prayer: Ordinary: 689 Proper of Seasons: 360 Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 988 Morning Prayer for Saturday of the 4th week of Lent God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. HYMN As light of day returns once more, With joyful voices let us sing, To God of glory infinite, To Christ our Lord for all his grace. Through whom the great Creator's will Called day and night from nothingness, Appointing them successive law, Till time itself shall pass away. True light of every faithful soul Unfettered by the law of old; No shades of night can fall that dim Your dazzling and undying light. O Father, uncreated Light, Be with us as the hours go by, That we may please your Son this day, Filled with the Holy Spirit's pow'r. Amen. 𝄞"As Light of Day Returns Once More" by Kathleen Lundquist [http://www.mystagogia.net] • Available for Purchase [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P3XFP27/ref=dm_ws_tlw_trk1] • Title: As Light of Day Returns Once More; Text: 7th-8th c.; Tr. St. Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK; Tune: Chant, Mode IV; Lumen Christi Hymnal; Artist: Kathleen Lundquist; Recording copyright 2016 by Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 1 PSALMODY Ant. 1 We do well to sing to your name, Most High, and proclaim your mercy at daybreak. Psalm 92 Praise of God the Creator Sing in praise of Christ’s redeeming work (Saint Athanasius). It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your truth in the watches of the night, on the ten-stringed lyre and the lute, with the murmuring sound of the harp. Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad; for the work of your hands I shout with joy. O Lord, how great are your works! How deep are your designs! The foolish man cannot know this and the fool cannot understand. Though the wicked spring up like grass and all who do evil thrive: they are doomed to be eternally destroyed. But you, Lord, are eternally on high. See how your enemies perish; all doers of evil are scattered. To me you give the wild-ox’s strength; you anoint me with the purest oil. My eyes looked in triumph on my foes; my ears heard gladly of their fall. The just will flourish like the palm-tree and grow like a Lebanon cedar. Planted in the house of the Lord they will flourish in the courts of our God, still bearing fruit when they are old, still full of sap, still green, to proclaim that the Lord is just; in him, my rock, there is no wrong. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer Take our shame away from us, Lord, and make us rejoice in your saving works. May all who have been chosen by your Son always abound in works of faith, hope, and love in your service. Ant. We do well to sing to your name, Most High, and proclaim your mercy at daybreak. Ant. 2 I will create a new heart in you, and breathe into you a new spirit. Canticle – Ezekiel 36:24-28 The Lord will renew his people They will be his own people, and God himself will be with them, their own God (Revelation 21:3). I will take you away from among the nations, gather you from all the foreign lands, and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. I will create a new heart in you, and breathe into you a new spirit. Ant. 3 On the lips of children and infants you have found perfect praise. Psalm 8 The majesty of the Lord and man’s dignity The Father gave Christ lordship of creation and made him head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22). How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth! Your majesty is praised above the heavens; on the lips of children and of babes you have found praise to foil your enemy, to silence the foe and the rebel. When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you arranged, what is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god; with glory and honor you crowned him, gave him power over the works of your hand, put all things under his feet. All of them, sheep and cattle, yes, even the savage beasts, birds of the air, and fish that make their way through the waters. How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth! Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer Almighty Lord, how wonderful is your name. You have made every creature subject to you; make us worthy to give you service. Ant. On the lips of children and infants you have found perfect praise. READING Isaiah 1:16-18 Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim; redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool. Sacred Silence(indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church. RESPONSORY God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare. — God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare. From those who would trap me with lying words — and from the hunter’s snare. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, — God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare. CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH Ant. Never before has anyone spoken like this man. Luke 1:68 – 79 The Messiah and his forerunner Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. Never before has anyone spoken like this man. INTERCESSIONS Let us always and everywhere give thanks to Christ our Savior, and ask him with confidence: Lord, help us with your grace. May we keep our bodies pure, — as temples of the Holy Spirit. Lord, help us with your grace. May we offer ourselves this morning to the service of others, — and do your will in all things throughout the day. Lord, help us with your grace. Teach us to seek the bread of everlasting life, — the bread that is your gift. Lord, help us with your grace. May your Mother, the refuge of sinners, pray for us, — and gain for us your loving forgiveness. Lord, help us with your grace. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Concluding Prayer May the working of your mercy, O Lord, we pray, direct our hearts aright, for without your grace we cannot find favor in your sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen. DISMISSAL May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. — Amen.

March 21st, 2026 – Midmorning Prayer – Divine Office: Liturgy of the Hours

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II: Ordinary: 1054 Complementary Psalmody: 1651 (Midmorning) Proper of Seasons: 334 (antiphon, reading, concluding prayer) Midmorning Prayer for Saturday of the 4th Week of Lent, using the Complementary Psalmody God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. HYMN Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do. Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure, until with thee I have one will, to do and to endure. Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly thine, till all this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine. Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity. 𝄞"O Breathe on Me, Breath of God" by Jane Chifley And Pat McGrath • Musical Score [https://divineoffice.org/wp-content/uploads/O-Breathe-on-Me-Breath-of-God.pdf] • Title: Breathe on Me, Breath of God; Text: Edwin Hatch, 1835-1889; Music: Robert Jackson, 1842-1914; Tune: TRENTHAM, Meter: SM; Artist: Jane Chifley And Pat McGrath; Used by permission PSALMODY Ant. 1 The time of penance has come, the time to atone for our sins and to seek our salvation. Psalm 120 Longing for peace To the Lord in the hour of my distress I call and he answers me. “O Lord, save my soul from lying lips, from the tongue of the deceitful.” What shall he pay you in return, O treacherous tongue? The warrior’s arrows sharpened and coals, red-hot, blazing. Alas, that I abide a stranger in Meshech, dwell among the tents of Kedar! Long enough have I been dwelling with those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for fighting. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm 121 Guardian of his people Never again will they hunger and thirst, never again know scorching heat (Revelation 7:16) I lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall come my help? My help shall come from the Lord who made heaven and earth. May he never allow you to stumble! Let him sleep not, your guard. No, he sleeps not nor slumbers, Israel’s guard. The Lord is your guard and your shade; at your right side he stands. By day the sun shall not smite you nor the moon in the night. The Lord will guard you from evil, he will guard your soul. The Lord will guard your going and coming both now and for ever. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm 122 The holy city, Jerusalem You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22) I rejoiced when I heard them say: Let us go to God’s house. And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city strongly compact. It is there that the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. For Israel’s law it is, there to praise the Lord’s name. There were set the thrones of judgment of the house of David. For the peace of Jerusalem pray: “Peace be to your homes! May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces, peace!” For love of my brethren and friends I say: Peace upon you. For love of the house of the Lord I will ask for your good. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Ant. The time of penance has come, the time to atone for our sins and to seek our salvation. READING Revelation 3:19-20 Whoever is dear to me I reprove and chastise. Be earnest about it, therefore. Repent! Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with me. Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church. Create in me a clean heart, O God. — Renew in me a steadfast spirit. CONCLUDING PRAYER May the working of your mercy, O Lord, we pray, direct our hearts aright, for without your grace we cannot find favor in your sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen. ACCLAMATION (only added when praying in community) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.

March 21st, 2026 – Midday Prayer – Divine Office: Liturgy of the Hours

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II: Ordinary: 1054 Proper of Seasons: 335 (Midday) Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 1615 Midday Prayer for Saturday of the 4th Week of Lent, using the Current Psalmody God, come to my assistance. — Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. HYMN Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street But the crowd pressed in to see The Man condemned to die on Calvary. He was bleeding from a beating, there were stripes upon His back And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head And He bore with every step The scorn of those who cried out for His death. Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King, But He chose to walk that road out of His love for you and me Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary. Por la Via Dolorosa, triste dia en Jerusalén Los soldados le abrian paso a Jesus Mas la gente se acercaba Para ver al que llevaba aquella cruz. Por la Via Dolorosa, que es la via del dolor Como oveja vino Cristo, Rey, Señor Y fue El quién quiso ir por su amor por ti y por mi Por la Via Dolorosa al Calvario y a morir The blood that would cleanse the souls of all men Made its way through the heart of Jerusalem. Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King But He chose to walk that road out of His love for you and me Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary. 𝄞"Via Dolorosa" by Melinda Kirigin-Voss [https://divineoffice.org/melinda-kirigin-voss/] • Title: Via Dolorsa; Text: Billy Sprague and Niles Borop; Artist: Melinda Kirigin-Voss; Copyright Melinda Kirigin-Voss; Used with permission. Ant. As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live. PSALMODY Psalm 119:169-176 XXII (Tau) Lord, let my cry come before you: teach me by your word. Let my pleading come before you; save me by your promise. Let my lips proclaim your praise because you teach me your commands. Let my tongue sing your promise for your commands are just. Let your hand be ready to help me, since I have chosen your precepts. Lord, I long for your saving help and your law is my delight. Give life to my soul that I may praise you. Let your decrees give me help. I am lost like a sheep; seek your servant for I remember your commands. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer Lord, grant that we should always offer you the hymns you have made; then we will live to praise you and never forget your commands. Psalm 45 The marriage of the king The Bridegroom is here; go out and welcome him (Matthew 25:6). I My heart overflows with noble words. To the king I must speak the song I have made; my tongue as nimble as the pen of a scribe. You are the fairest of the children of men and graciousness is poured upon your lips: because God has blessed you for evermore. O mighty one, gird your sword upon your thigh; in splendor and state, ride on in triumph for the cause of truth and goodness and right. Take aim with your bow in your dread right hand. Your arrows are sharp: peoples fall beneath you. The foes of the king fall down and lose heart. Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever. A scepter of justice is the scepter of your kingdom. Your love is for justice; your hatred for evil. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above other kings: your robes are fragrant with aloes and myrrh. From the ivory palace you are greeted with music. The daughters of kings are among your loved ones. On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. II Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: forget your own people and your father’s house. So will the king desire your beauty: he is your lord, pay homage to him. And the people of Tyre shall come with gifts, the richest of the people shall seek your favor. The daughter of the king is clothed with splendor, her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold. She is led to the king with her maiden companions. They are escorted amid gladness and joy; they pass within the palace of the king. Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers: you will make them princes over all the earth. May this song make your name for ever remembered. May the peoples praise you from age to age. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: — as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Psalm-prayer When you took on flesh, Lord Jesus, you made a marriage of mankind with God. Help us to be faithful to your word and endure our exile bravely, until we are called to the heavenly marriage feast, to which the Virgin Mary, exemplar of your Church, has preceded us. Ant. As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live. READING Isaiah 44:21-22 Remember this, you who are my servant! I formed you to be a servant to me; O Israel, by me you shall never be forgotten: I have brushed away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church. Turn your face away from my sins. — Blot out all my guilt. CONCLUDING PRAYER May the working of your mercy, O Lord, we pray, direct our hearts aright, for without your grace we cannot find favor in your sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. — Amen. ACCLAMATION (only added when praying in community) Let us praise the Lord. — And give him thanks.